A thorough and logically fluent textbook on elementary dynamics, primarily intended for first-year Mathematics undergraduates. A basic knowledge of calculus and elementary statics is required, though no previous knowledge of dynamics is assumed. Pars, a former lecturer in Mathematics at Cambridge, also provides an introductory grounding in ideas that will recur throughout the book, such as vectors and the fundamentals of Newtonian mechanics. Included in the text are a number of worked examples to illustrate the application of the theory to concrete problems, and exercises for practice at the ends of the chapters.
This clear, rigorous introduction to the calculus of variations covers applications to geometry, dynamics, and physics. Focusing upon problems with one independent variable, the text connects the abst